Game apparatus



5 mx W f# M. l. GLASS ETAL GAME APPARATUS Filed F'eb. 16, 1965 m .be y2. ZW WH WM N/ A Oct. 17, 1967 United States Patent ii ice 3,347,548Patented Oct. 17, 1967 3,347,548 GAME APPARATUS Marvin I. Glass,Chicago, Anthony T. Janiszewski, Elmwood Park, and Michael W. Furuta,Fox River Grove, Ill., assignors to Marvin Glass & Associates, Chicago,Ill., a partnership Filed Feb. 16, 1965, Ser. No. 432,979 3 Claims. (Cl.273-1) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Game apparatus comprising a housingstructure including a pair of spaced-apart parallel side walls with aplurality of openings in each wall and a door for each opening. A gureis movably mounted within the housing tor movement along a path betweenthe side walls, with operating means disposed on each side of thehousing for effecting movement of the figure. The apparatus alsoincludes cooperating means on the figure and on each of the doors, whichis eitective to produce a sound when the door is opened and the iigureis disposed in facing relation to that door.

is particularly directed to apparatus for playing a game which followsthe well known principle of Hide-n-Seek and, therefore, can be readilyunderstood and played byl children of pre-school age.

Although very small children enjoy playing games, their inability toread, count, etc. makes it very diicult to provide a game which can beused by this group without some adult supervision. Then too, in order tohave such children understand the play of a game, it must be reasonablysimple and not complicated by detailed instructions for play. It is theprimary object of the present invention to provide a game which isparticularly adapted for play by children of pre-school age and which isreadily understood by the children because they can relate the game tothe familiar Hide-n-Seek game which children play at a very early age.

A further object of the invention is to provide a game which includes asingle unitary housing structure with all of the play elementsincorporated in the housing, and which does not involve any playingboard, cards, tokens, etc. A more detailed object of the invention is toprovide game apparatus in the form of a housing having opposite sidewalls with a plurality of openings in each Wall and a door for each ofthe openings, wherein a gure within the housing is slidable by eachplayer in turn to any selected position behind one of the doors so thatthe opposing player then has the opportunity to guess which door shouldbe opened to expose the figure. Further objects and advantages will beapparent from the following description of the selected embodiment ofthe invention wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of the game apparatus;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken generally along the line 22 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in FIGURE 2.

The illustrated game apparatus comprises generally a housing of plasticor other suitable material, wherein opposite walls of the housing areprovided with a plurality of openable doors 12. A figure 14 is disposedwithin the housing in facing relation to each of the side walls, and alever 16 is provided at the base of the house, on each of the oppositesides thereof, in position for engagement with the figure and movementof the figure along a path extending parallel to the side walls 18 and20. At the start of the game, the doors 12 are all closed and the firstplayer operates his lever 16 to place the figure in any desiredposition. The opposing player then tries to guess the position of thefigure and opens the door on his side which he thinks will expose thefigure. A marker in the form of a movable bird figure 22 is disposedover each door, so that when a player has guessed correctly as to theposition of the figure 14 he scores a point which is indicated byraising a bird figure to an erect position, as seen in FIGURE 2. Theplayer who first raises all of his birds is the winner of the game.

In the preferred embodiment of this invention, which is illustrated inthe drawings, the housing 10 is elongated in shape with relativelynarrow end wall portions 24 and includes an enlarged base structure 26for receiving the figure operating mechanism and also for providing astable base for the house. Each of the side walls 18 and 20 has fouropenings 30 formed therein, and each opening is provided with a door 12hingedly mounted on the housing wall and including a rotatable knob 32for opening the door. The interior of the knob is provided with anelongated member 34, which can be rotated by turning the knob to latchthe door in its closed position (FIG- URE 3). The base structure 26includes a pair of elongated recesses or grooves 36 (FIGURE 2) whichreceive the side walls 18 and 20 for iixedly attaching the house to thebase. The base structure is generally hollow and the upper wall 38thereof includes a pair of spacedapart, horizontal ribs 40 extendingessentially the length of the base. The ribs 40 slidably receive aU-shaped member 42 which provides the base support for the figure. Anadditional pair of ribs 44, which extend downwardly into the interior ofthe base, provides a slide or guide means for the operating levers. Moreparticularly, each of the operating levers 16 is essentially a flatpiece extending into an elongated slot 46 in the side wall of the base,and the inner end of each lever is in the shape of a yoke 48 adapted toengage a peg or shaft 50 projecting downwardly from the gure supportingmeans 42. An intermediate portion of each lever is slidably received ina guide means 52 which engages one of the ribs 44 for sliding movementtherealong. The lever 16 is biased toward an outwardly projectingposition by means of a coil spring 54. Consequently, the lever can bemoved lengthwise of the rib 44 without engaging the peg 50 on the figurestructure, and when the lever is positioned opposite the peg 50 `anaxial, inward movement of the lever will position the yoke 48 inengagement with the peg 50, as indicated in FIGURE 4.

In playing the game, a player will slide his lever 16 lengthwise of thehouse until the lever is positioned in alignment with the figure 14,whereupon he can push the lever inwardly to engage the peg 50y and thenslide the figure to any desired position. The opposing player then makesa guess as to which of the doors 12 on his side is concealing thefigure. Since the levers can be slid along the housing without engagingthe figure, movement of the lever itself will not be an indication as towhether or not the figure is being moved.

In order that a player can properly determine when his opponent hasselected the correct door to open, there is provided a sound makingdevice which requires the cooperation of the door and the igure.Consequently, if a door is opened there will be an accompanying soundonly if the iigure is facing that particular door. The sound makingdevice comprises a pair of exible reeds 60, which are iixed to the gure14 in outwardly projecting relation thereto and each reed is provided atits free end with a downwardly extending portion 62. On each of thedoors, at the lower end thereof, there is provided a hook 64 whichextends inwardly of the door to a position slightly beyond the free endof the reed. As the ligure is moved along the path between the doors thereed end 62 clears the hooks 64 on the doors. If either door facing theligure is opened, the hook 64 liicks the down-turned end 62 of the reedto cause vibration thereof and an accompanying sound.

As indicated previously the markers for keeping score during the play ofthe game comprise a plurality of bird ligures 22 which are pivotallymounted on the roof of the house above each of the doors. The game isstarted withall of the birds in the down-turned position,` as shown withrespect to the bird at the right in FIGURE 2, and as a player makes acorrect guess with respect to the position of the ligure 14 he isentitled to raise one of his birds, as seen at the left in FIGURE 2.When one of the players has raised all of the four birds on his side ofthe house he has won the game.

Although the present invention is described herein with respect toparticular structure and a particular manner of play, it will beapparent that various modifications might be made without departing fromthe principles of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Game apparatus comprising a housing structure including a pair ofspaced-apart,` generally parallel side walls, a plurality of openingsformed in each of said side walls with the openings 1n one wall `beingopposite the openings in the other wall, doors operably mounted on` saidhousing in position for each door to cover one of said openings andopenable with respect thereto, a ligure within said housing, meansmounting said ligure for movement along a path between and generallyparallel to said side Walls, and operating means on each side of saidhousing structure and engageable with said ligure mounting means so thateither of said operating means` can be operated to effect movement ofsaid ligure along said path.

2. Garne apparatus comprising a housing structure including a pair ofspaced-apart, generally parallel side walls, a plurality of openingsformed in each of said side walls, doors operably mounted on saidhousing in position for each door to cover one of said openings and whensaid operating means is in its engaged position, andv cooperating meanson said figure and each of said doors which is effective to produce asound when a door is opened and the ligure is disposed in facingrelation to said door.

3. Game apparatus comprising a housing structure including a pair ofspaced-apart, generally parallel side walls, a pair of end walls and atop wall, a plurality of openings formed in each of said side Walls withthe openings in one wall being opposite the openings in the other wall,doors mounted on said housing in position for each door to cover one ofsaid openings and arranged for opening movement with respect thereto, aligure within said housing, means mounting said ligure for slidingmovement Ialong a path between and generally parallel to said sidewalls, an operating lever projecting outwardly on each side of saidhousing structure and slidable along a slot formed in said housing, each`of. said levers including a portion within said housing whch isengageable and disengageable with said ligure, so that movement ofeither of said lever means to a position opposite said ligure and inengagement therewith causes said ligure to move along said path as theengaged lever is moved along said slot.

References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,795,427 6/1957 Sachs 273l39 XANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner. A. W. KRAMER, A'ssstantvExmnner.

1. GAME APPARATUS COMPRISING A HOUSING STRUCTURE INCLUDING A PAIR OFSPACED-APART, GENERALLY PARALLEL SIDE WALLS, A PLURALITY OF OPENINGSFORMED IN EACH OF SAID SIDE WALLS WITH THE OPENINGS IN ONE WALL BEINGOPPOSITE THE OPENINGS IN THE OTHER WALL, DOORS OPERABLY MOUNTED ON SAIDHOUSING IN POSITION FOR EACH DOOR TO COVER ONE OF SAID OPENINGS ANDOPENABLE WITH RESPECT THERETO, A FIGURE WITHIN SAID HOUSING, MEANSMOUNTING SAID FIGURE FOR